[04/13/09 - 12:09 PM]CMT Announces First Round Finalists for the "2009 CMT Music Awards"Beginning today, fans can vote on CMT.com for their favorite artists to determine the final nominees for CMT's eighth annual awards show.

[via press release from CMT]

CMT ANNOUNCES FIRST ROUND FINALISTS FOR THE "2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS"

Online Voting Begins Monday, April 13 on CMT.com and Ends May 11

Sugarland leads nominations with six followed by Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift, each with four

NASHVILLE � April 13, 2009 � Voting begins today for the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS, country music's only fan-voted award show, with the announcement of this year's first round finalists. Country duo, Sugarland, lead the pack in first round nominations with six followed by Brad Paisley and Taylor Swift who have each garnered four. Beginning today, Monday, April 13 at 11:00 a.m., ET, fans can vote on CMT.com for their favorite artists to determine the final nominees for CMT's eighth annual awards show. Country music's biggest stars will rock Nashville when the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS premieres LIVE on Wednesday, June 17 on CMT and CMT.com.

The first round of voting for the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS runs from April 13 through May 11, only at CMT.com, where fans will select from the top nominees in each category. On Tuesday, May 19, CMT will announce the four finalists in each of the categories, except VIDEO OF THE YEAR. Fans can then vote online at CMT.com through June 15 to determine the winners of the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS. The final nominees for VIDEO OF THE YEAR will be announced at the beginning of the live show and fans can vote at CMT.com and via text message throughout the live broadcast (ET/CT only) to determine the night's big winner.

The nominees in each of the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS categories include:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
Best video of the year; awarded to the artist (male, female, group/duo or collaboration) and the video director. Final nominees announced during live telecast, with final voting held online at CMT.com during the show.

Videos that debuted on CMT between January 18, 2008 and February 23, 2009 are eligible for the 2009 CMT MUSIC AWARDS. Finalists were determined by an industry panel that includes noted country music journalists, as well as music industry, music retail and CMT executives. Log on to CMT.com to view streaming clips of nominated videos.

CMT, a unit of Viacom's MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and entertainment, reaching more than 88 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network's digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT VOD.